In partnership with
Everything GTM. One platform.
Small teams don't have time to stitch together five tools and hope it works.
Apollo gives you everything you need to find leads, reach them, and close deals — all in one place:
230M+ verified contacts
AI-powered outreach
Data enrichment
Inbound lead capture
Meeting scheduler
And more
Stop juggling tools and start building pipeline that scales.
With Apollo, the AI revenue engine powering 4M+ users.
Hi there,
This week's three posts all come back to the same gap: practices don't actually know what they've got. Most directors can name six of the sixteen software categories a live project runs on, the other ten renew unnoticed or get done by hand. Most AI use on live projects has nothing written down, so the exposure sits with the practice, not the tool. And practices spend £4,000 to £6,000 a head on software every year with no way of knowing if that's normal, because nobody publishes the numbers. Three different gaps, one root cause and it's the reason ADDD is adding a research and intelligence side from this month.
To be clear on what that means: the advisory work stays exactly as it is - Technology Reviews, Blueprints and retainers for practices aren't changing. What's new sits alongside it - a score, a survey, an annual State of AEC Technology report and a weekly show, supported by vendors rather than by the practices we work with, which is what lets us publish benchmarks free for anyone to use.
Below: the 16-category software framework, the free AIA AI-policy toolkit worth downloading despite reading like AI wrote it, and what the research and intelligence side actually adds - plus five new tools, a Data Chat podcast appearance, an AEC Tech Futures video, the Symetri Naviate User Group Event, and a role worth noticing.
Let's get into it. 👇
What Sparked the Most Discussion This Week
I think there are 16 categories of software needed in an architecture practice. Most directors I speak to can name 6 and the other 10 are either renewing unnoticed or being done by hand.
Your team is already using AI on live projects. If nothing is written down, the exposure is yours. The AIA just published the fix. Free.
Architecture practices can spend between £4,000 to £6,000 per head on software every year. Almost none of them know if that's normal. Here's my solution.
Is your practice Technology ready?
Not sure where to start? Start here. The free "Is your practice technology ready?" guide gives you an honest read on where your practice stands - the gaps, the quick wins, and the questions worth asking before you spend a penny on new tools. It's the same thinking behind the Blueprint above, in a form you can run yourself.
What's inside:
-/ The four phases of a connected technology strategy
-/ The six things most practices haven't addressed but should
-/ A self-assessment with a scoring guide and recommended next steps
-/ Five questions to ask before any technology decision
Built for Practice Directors, Managing Directors, Digital Design Leads and Studio Principals.
Download here: Is your practice technology ready?
News & Events
I'm joining Symetri at their Naviate User Group Event - a day of industry peers, Naviate experts and guest speakers focused on the challenges shaping today's construction and design industry, including project management, BIM systems, data handling and AI in construction workflows.
When: 1 October 2026, 9:00am - 4:45pm
Where: Derbyshire House, St Chad's Street, London, WC1H 8AG
Sign up here: Naviate User Group Event | Symetri.co.uk
On the Data Chat Podcast
I joined the Data Chat podcast this week to talk about why construction remains the last great trillion-pound industry still to digitise, the cultural inertia holding architects back - perfectionism, "craft over efficiency" and a leadership gap - and where AI is genuinely adding value in practice versus where it's still theatre.
Listen here: Data Chat - Spotify
New this week in the ConTech database
Each week I will continue to share new software added to the ADDD Database and specific categories of software to help you find the right solutions and stay up to date on what is emerging out there.
Gaudi AI - an AI estimating tool that turns blueprints, RFPs and site notes into a client-ready cost estimate in minutes; pay-per-estimate, no subscription. Sits in early-stage feasibility, category 1 on last week's framework. heygaudi.ai
Tapir for Archicad - a free, open-source Python/JSON API layer for scripting and automating Archicad without needing C++, built to plug into Grasshopper and AI workflows. archicad-api.com
BIMR - a text-based BIM authoring tool: define walls, columns and slabs through Python scripting or a purpose-built microlanguage instead of a GUI. bimr.net
Monta AI - generates editable LOD 300/350 Revit models from early-stage drawings, specs and firm standards, aimed at cutting detailed BIM work from weeks to hours. monta.ai
Archie - a branded client portal for managing budgets, timelines, permits and decisions. Worth flagging precisely because it isn't a project-stack tool - it's practice management, the "different list, different conversation" from this week's framework. buildwitharchie.com
Videos Update
AI-Driven Documentation: Automating Revit Drawing Creation and QA for Architects - where AI can genuinely take over drawing production and QA, and where an architect still needs to check the output. [watch]
One Role Worth Noticing This Week
“Own complex, multi-stakeholder deals selling the Giraffe platform to tier-one developers and government. For closers who thrive in long, consultative sales cycles.”
→ View role: Here
See all roles here: www.aectechjobs.com/search
What this issue means for you
Every post this week is the same problem wearing a different hat: practices can't manage what they haven't named. Six categories out of sixteen means ten are running on autopilot - renewed by habit, chosen by whoever got there first, or replaced by someone doing the job in a spreadsheet. No written AI policy means every use of AI on a live project is a judgment call made in the moment, by whoever happens to be at the keyboard, with the practice carrying the risk regardless of who made the call. And £4,000 to £6,000 a head with no benchmark means a Director signing off that spend has no way to tell if they're running lean or just under-informed. Ownership, governance, benchmarking - three names for the same missing piece.
The practical move is the same in each case: write it down before you buy, adopt or defend anything. Map your stack against the 16 categories and see which boxes have no name against them. Download the AIA toolkit, swap in ARB and RIBA for the American anchoring, and get a policy on paper this week rather than next audit. Plus if you want to know whether your software spend is normal rather than guessing, that's exactly what the free readiness guide above is for.
One clarification, because it's easy to misread: none of this replaces the advisory side. Technology Reviews, Blueprints and retainer support for practices continue exactly as they have for the last two years - that work is still booked directly with me. The research and intelligence side is new and separate: a score, a benchmark, an annual report and a weekly show, paid for by vendors rather than by the practices reading this, which is what lets the benchmarking stay free for you to use.
Get in touch - reply to this email or book a call: 30 min with Allister Lewis
That's it for this week.
If something in here landed - or if you disagree - reply and tell me. I read every response.
Thanks for reading!
Allister
I’m away this week in Chicago - Richard seems fine without me.
